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What an incredibly sad week for America. While the destruction and violence threaten to further divide us, let's bear in mind that 89% of Americans agree that the charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin are appropriate, or that he should have been charged with an even more serious crime. It’s not easy, but if you can, look beyond the vandalism and looting. Look at Americans peacefully exercising their Constitutional right to protest. Look at neighbors joining together to clean up their communities. Look at police officers marching in unity with those they serve. Because those things happened this weekend too, and that’s the America we must fight to save. —Mindy Finn
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1. Trump to govs: You 'look like fools'
Peaceful protests gave way to mass vandalism and looting—often by outside agitators with personal political agendas. Curfews were implemented in major cities nationwide, as local law enforcement struggled to maintain control. U.S. military police stood at the ready to intervene, and the president, ever tweeting, was shuttled to a bunker. It was not America's best weekend, to say the least. After days of unrest in dozens of U.S. cities following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers last week, President Trump slammed the nation's governors today for not being tough enough. "Most of you are weak," Trump said on a video teleconference. "You have to arrest people." Pretty strong words from someone who hid away in a bunker. —Associated Press
- — He's "Twitter tough." Yesterday, Trump tweeted that the U.S. will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, even though the U.S. government has no existing legal authority to label a domestic group as such. —CNN
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- — Lawmakers beg him to tone it down. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was one of many leaders who urged Trump to tone down his rhetoric regarding the protests. "He speaks and makes it worse," she said. —The Hill
- — A mixed reaction from the administration. Though National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said yesterday that he doesn't believe there is systemic racism within police agencies, Attorney General Bill Barr announced a federal civil rights investigation into Floyd's death, pledging that justice will be served. —Politico
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- — Journalists feel the heat. During the protests, law enforcement officials were captured during live news coverage harming journalists, with some reporters and crews being shot with rubber bullets, targeted with stun grenades, tear-gassed, physically attacked, pepper-sprayed, and arrested. —Bellingcat
- — Protests go global. Crowds gathered in London, Berlin, and Toronto to protest in solidarity, with demonstrators holding signs saying "I can't breathe" and "Black Lives Matter." —The Washington Post
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- — What about corona? The large number of crowds gathering for weekend protests has physicians and public health experts worried about a coming surge in COVID-19 cases. They urged demonstrators to wear masks and maintain social distancing while exercising their rights. —The New York Times
More: A city-by-city look at where things stand amid days of unrest (The Wall Street Journal)
The police union is a major national issue and should be tackled head on. It should be busted the way the Teamsters were. —Philippe D., Texas
The death of Mr. Floyd in Minneapolis is terrible and beyond tragic. May he rest in peace. Sadly, there are many others like Mr. Floyd. Yet without video we'd never know anything even close to the truth. The lie that set the narrative was that he fought back when being removed from his vehicle. Flat-out BS, as proven by video. But as stated, it set the narrative to then justify whatever might transpire. Until there was video.
Imagine for a moment how many other Mr. Floyds have happened over the years where video did not exist. Imagine how many people have been sent to jail/prison because there was no video.
It may be stating the obvious, I know. Yet without video Mr. Arbery's tragic death (may he rest in peace) would also have gone by, as it had for weeks until video surfaced, and we'd have been left having to believe a lie, or many lies, in that case. These deaths are tragedies, and even with video there is no "given" as to how justice will play out. But think about all the others, thousands upon thousands of people, who had no video and died or went to jail. Based upon pure lies.
All police are not bad by any stretch. But as in all walks of life, there are some bad police. And we have all been able to now see it over the last several years with the aid of the videos. Where are our so-called leaders? And I don't mean just the tweeter-in-chief. —Bill T., Arizona
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